Youmi - Learner drivers and instructors connected

Driving lessons can be very expensive. There is no base rate, so instructors charge whatever they feel like and the learner doesn’t necessarily know any better. There are so many instructors to choose from, it can be hard to know who to get lessons from.

Conversely, driving lessons can be a difficult thing to effectively advertise, meaning that there can seem to be fewer instructors to choose from without deep research. This obviously affects the instructor, who sees less uptake than they could otherwise find.

Birmingham-based Youmi is trying to make this choice a little easier. Youmi is an app that connects learners and instructors, making it easier for both to find what they are looking for.

For the learner, the app displays instructors within a certain distance, their price, the car they use, whether it is manual or automatic, and the rating they have been given by other learners. Payments are made securely through the app, and you can share your unique code with others to earn discounts. The app acts as a calendar, reminding you of your lessons, as well as a medium to call or message your instructor.

For the instructor, you ensure that you are as visible as any other instructor, and the display of all the information a learner needs on your profile means less time wasted on phone calls that go nowhere.

You pay a monthly or annual fee and keep all of your earnings, which are reported in the app’s financial reports, just one of the business tools it offers. As well as the mobile app, you have access to a business console via desktop to keep track of earnings and expenditure.

Youmi has not yet launched (it’s currently taking pre-registrations for learners and instructors), but it has already raised £150k investment - mainly thanks to being able to show how many people were interested via the pre-registrations.

These pre-registrations were also a part of what helped founder Banwo evaluate Youmi at £1.5m, and reinforce what we can see for ourselves: that Youmi will drive positive change in the sector!

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